HD - time warner cable

esj

just thought i would pass along some info i recieved today from the vp(programming/new devlopment) time warner in new york, i was led to him via a post he left reguarding future hd programming, part of his posting stated there would be (significant changes by year end !) so i called him with a number he left as to my behold he answered my call directly, i talked with him for 20 minutes and he was very nice and answered all my questions BUT concerning my questions on future programming there was very little in the way of more channels in hd, he mentioned espn but said there was some negoitiating going on and i got the impression that i will not even see espn in short term,he did say that time warner was obtaining more banwidth for hd which i totally don`t get but in total i was not pleased with the future of time warner hd programming, i most likely will wait 4-5 months and see what develops which probably will not be anything and will have to go with direct tv / voom etc to get some more hd channels so i can enjoy my 4000.00 monitor, to be honest i hope tw will lose more and more people to direct tv / dish/ voom / io / etc so maybe they will get a more aggressive attitude for the hd platform.Hope this may help someone and i recommend you call you local cable companies and ask questions, voice your anger with the lack of channels avalible. Everone enjoy your current hd channels and hope for more tomm , may the force be with you !!!!!!!!! ej - new york

hoorta

The key word is "negotiating". It a fig leaf. Directv and Dish have had ESPNHD since last fall. Negotiating what??? They can't get the feed BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO CHEAP, OR TO LAZY TO DO SO. Oh, I voiced my anger- told them back in January they'd better have all the HD feeds before football season 2004 started or they could kiss my a**. Boy, was the cable service rep crying when I told them they were dumped for foot dragging.

Please call that bozo back and tell him you're putting up a dish, and see if he'll change his tune.

rbinck

Voom also has ESPN HD. No excuse for TWC. They are a lot bigger than Voom. Fact is the mainstream services treat us HD nuts like ugly stepchildren with them being the bad stepparent.

rrobbinstx

As to the comments about ESPN in HD. ESPN is the highest charging content provider on the air. When Time Warner CAble wants to add ESPN HD to its lineup ESPN wants approx $10.00 per subscriber. Those costs will be passed on directly to the consumer. If you want to be angry because someone is greedy, be angry at ESPN. As to DirectTV having ESPN in HD: ESPN must not have been that greedy with the dish people. I personally would not want to pay $10.00 for one HD station. Just for the record, ESPN charges providers $2.35 per subscriber. Who do you think pays those fees? WE DO...

kdogg

Our local (PA) cable, Adelphia, only offer 2 HD channels. Discovery and ESPN. They are always slow/reluctant to keep up with technology and new networks.

hoorta

Well, let's do the math. Dirctv is charging $10 a month for the HD package- you telling me DiscoveryHD and the other two feeds are given to DTV for free??? I don't doubt ESPNHD is pricey, but not QUITE that pricey- unless ESPN is trying to pass the buck for the cost of the megamillion HD upgrade over to the cable companies, and they're balking at the cost.

Popnfresh

Let’s break it down. Every 1 HiDef channel equals 2 Digital channels. Now Time Warner can hit up more people with 2 channels than 1. Not that Time Warner "Cable" is being cheap. It’s just that not everyone has a HDTV or has the money to buy one. Not much of a demand for HiDef except for the people complaining about it. Time Warner Cable Plans on adding a s#$t ton of HiDef channels come 2008 after Christmas when everybody settles in with their new HDTV. Please anybody comment something anti TWC that you can’t get from a dish commercial.

Rick0725

I have done some research on the subject of hd and time warner and got some info from the vp in our market. this information is in regards to the syracuse area and I am not sure what is going to occur anywhere else.

first there was a newspaper article in last friday's sports section in syracuse regarding tbs hd being unavailable on twc.

this was the response

the company's digital lineup includes 20 HD channels, including several sports channels, and its system does not have the capacity to carry more. Each HD channel takes up the bandwidth of 10 standard-definition channels, he said.

"It's not a cost issue at all," he said Thursday. "It's really a capacity issue."

He said the capacity problem will disappear next year when Time Warner employs a digital switching system to make more efficient use of its bandwidth, allowing the company to carry an unlimited number of HD channels, including TBS in HD.

the switching system will consist of nodes (not yet defined) that will turn on and pass only the channels watched based on demand in that node area.

by turning off unused channels in the node, the source said the new system will open up enough bandwidth to allow the addition of many more HD channels.

this process will also allow tw to continue to provide analog tv service. as time moves on, there may be opportunites where analog channels will be dropped and converted to digital only with those channels to be determined in the future.

this still implies that there will not be instant gratification for users wanting hd programing at time warner now. sounds like you will need to wait till sometime in 2008 till the new process is put into place to enjoy more hd programming.

there are other alternatives in satellite delivery that will satisfy the hd fix now.

the real issue at twc is available bandwidth, installing, testing and implimenting the new delivery process at the local tm facilities.

the programming negotiation is a stall tactic.